


The Golden Key

by JusticeTokidoki



Category: Kingdom Hearts (Video Games)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Fantasy, Feels, Freeform, Gen, Heartwarming, Light Angst, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Romantic Fluff, Sad Roxas (Kingdom Hearts)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-27
Updated: 2021-01-27
Packaged: 2021-03-18 22:33:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,354
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28999824
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JusticeTokidoki/pseuds/JusticeTokidoki
Summary: It had always been the four of them, they made up the world. But the more time passed the more Hayner knew.One day Roxas gave him a key, allowing Hayner to choose between comfort and freedom.
Relationships: Hayner/Olette/Pence/Roxas (Kingdom Hearts), Hayner/Roxas (Kingdom Hearts), Olette/Roxas (Kingdom Hearts), Pence/Roxas (Kingdom Hearts)
Kudos: 4





	The Golden Key

**Author's Note:**

> Made this story a long time ago, finally felt like sharing it. 
> 
> This could be considered canon compliant/or better to say it could fit into canon, but it’s not that important to understanding the story. 
> 
> Nonetheless, I hope you all enjoy!

I have a story to tell…

It’s about three best friends. You all know them as Hayner, Pence, and Olette. 

But here, in the shadow of the grand clock tower, their names weren’t of much importance. They rarely needed to talk or call each other by name, because they always sensed when one of them was near. A psychic link of sorts.

And it wasn’t like there was anyone to really bother them in town. As far as they knew, it had always been the three of them. 

Well, 3 of them... plus one other. You know him as Roxas, and his name was fairly important. But they only said it when they wanted to summon him close. He wouldn’t show up right away, but they could sense his presence, and somehow he’d share a sign of his whereabouts. So they would simply hang out amongst themselves until he returned.

Time passed, it was something they all knew deep down. But how much was impossible to decipher. The sky was locked in a permanent sunset, freezing everything in its golden rays. Always comforting, and yet Hayner was troubled. 

It was like an itch. At first he ignored it. Whenever Roxas was around he would forget his worries and just live in the moment with his friends. But eventually he grew curious. He wondered where the town would end, he wondered if they were really all that was left. He knew there was more out there, knew that beyond the safety of the town there was  _ more _ .

So he floated down from the clock tower as his friends slowly ate their ice cream, away from where he felt Roxas linger, and kept walking

Eventually, he hit a wall. An invisible barrier, he pressed and pressed against it, but it wouldn’t give. It wasn’t... frustrating per se. He wasn’t even surprised, just disappointed. 

“Find what you were looking for?” 

He didn’t question how Roxas had traveled across the whole length of town to stand directly behind him. He was there, the  _ how  _ wasn’t important. And yet... “ah, you know, I just thought... there would be more. Pretty silly of me.” He stretched, giving Roxas the biggest smile he could muster. “The others are waiting for us, right? Well, lead the way.”

“Wait....” Roxas grabbed Hayner’s hand and he immediately gripped it back, sighing in relief. Their contact was brief, but the sense of belonging,  _ safety _ , rang true. The warmth alone filled him in excess and he breathed out slowly. He closed his eyes and a second later the warmth disappeared. 

He didn’t need to open his eyes to know Roxas had returned to the others. He clenched his hand, as if to grasp the leftover heat he could still remember from Roxas’ touch. He opened his eyes and in his palm was a golden key. He frowned.

When he finally reached the clock tower Roxas started speaking. He spoke of fights between monsters and humans, about wars carried over hearts and the power they contained, the  _ light  _ within them. 

He mentioned how some monsters consumed those hearts for a variety of things. Power, understanding... he said special monsters could store away a heart, use the heart for their own gain slowly, until the rest of the light flickered away. 

“So there are monsters, and there are those who have hearts...”

“Humans, you mean.” Roxas corrected Pence softly, with a smile. 

Olette sat up, moving her head away from Roxas’ shoulder. “Humans.... that sounds very familiar... that must be what we are.” She looked out at the impenetrable sun. She didn’t blink, dazzling grin matching the sun that beamed rays, light reflecting through her onto the perch she sat on. 

Roxas chuckled. “No... you’re just a heart. All three of you are.”

The silence is deafening. For the first time, for as long as he can remember, Hayner feels dread. He gripped the key tightly behind himself, slipping it into his back pocket. 

Roxas continued, gesturing to the empty town below. “This place... was created by all of you. Your hopes, your desires....” he stood up. “You taught me many things.... things I didn’t think were important. But to be human, to have a heart.... they mean everything.” He turned around. There was a small, key-shaped hole in his chest. Just above his left rib. “One of the most important things that all humans strive for is freedom.” 

Roxas looked directly at him, then  _ further _ , and Hayner took a step back.

Pence spoke up, his words slow. Careful. “What if.... we don’t want to be free?” 

Roxas blinked. He stared at Pence, stared as if he was seeing him for the first time. “Pence... I don’t need you to lie to me. I’ve examined your heart inside and out. You’re smart, you seek to understand every mystery, you don’t stop at just the stories those tell you. You work to discover the truth for yourself.” He gestured to his side, showed him a golden key already inserted and turned in his body. “You chose freedom and wandered before these two even questioned their whereabouts.”

Pence looked alarmed, squinting at the key. Olette stood up. “This... no, this can’t be right! Being with you... all of us together... it feels... this is  _ right _ . I don’t need freedom!”

Hayner took another step back as Roxas gave Olette a charming smile. “Olette, your admiration, your courage, it’s the most incredible thing I’ve seen. I’m so happy I got to learn from you, and the fact that you hold such... fond feelings for me? After everything I took selfishly from you... I remember when I first told you this story. You hugged me tight. And I.... I still don’t understand it. But I cried. I cried for the first time. Here. And out there.”

He made another gesture. It was one neither of them could understand. He then slowly pointed to his hip, another golden key inserted. “You chose freedom too when I gave you the choice.”

He looked up, their eyes met, and then Hayner flew. The world blurred and formed together, a swirl of warm sunlight and cobbled stone steps, everything bleeding together as he ran from what his heart craved. He kept running and Roxas was there, calmly walking beside him. 

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to frighten you.”

“No, no, I won’t choose! You can’t make me!”

“Hmmm, you’re right. I can’t.” Roxas raised his hands. “So, we’re both in agreement on where we stand. Are you really going to keep running in the middle of nowhere like that?”

“This isn’t nowhere! We.... this.... we created this place together! It’s... its home.”

“ _ Out there  _ is home, Hayner. I... I’m letting you go. This is what’s right, it’s what I want for you.”

“We.... would we even... see each other? Would we meet again out... out there?”

Roxas looked up. Their surroundings were completely white. “Who knows.... I probably wouldn’t look like this, we might not even be able to understand each other. I appear this way only because I’ve been with you all.... all this time. But I’ve taken enough.” He stepped in front of Hayner. “Make the choice. I took all of you at the same time, and I need you all to be in agreement in order for this to work.”

“I.... we love you, you know.” 

Roxas blinked, he tilted his head, chuckling. His eyes shined with unshed tears. “I... don’t know what that means.” 

Hayner swallowed. “You will.” He inserted the key.

When Hayner woke up it was to a frail, skinny body. It was cold, and outside his window he peered into familiar, glowing blue eyes before the hooded creature vanished. A few moments later he was dressed, thirty minutes later Olette and Pence met him on cue near their hideout. 

And over an hour later in the woods they faced him. They had sensed him. The same as before, yet also completely different. But the closer they got the more human he looked and it was just the glow of his eyes that said otherwise as they collapsed together in a hug.


End file.
